German’s Chocolate Whey Protein Cake

If you’re thinking “hey, Anna, the title of your cake contains a typo – you wrote German’s instead of German,” you’re wrong. Sure, nowadays this cake commonly goes by ‘German Chocolate Cake’ but I think its original epithet is more appropriate. What am I talking about? Let me start at the beginning. This cake did not originate in Germany. It was not created by someone of German descent either. It was created by a man who’s last name was German – Sam German. This man, Sam German, developed a type of delicious bittersweet chocolate and sold it to the Baker’s Chocolate Company who, to honor him, called his chocolate ‘German’s Sweet Chocolate‘ in 1852. More than a hundred years after German’s Chocolate was launched, a homemaker from Texas sent a recipe for a chocolate cake using German’s chocolate to a local newspaper. She called it ‘German’s Chocolate Cake.’ Now, this recipe was SO amazing that it was reproduced in countless newspapers, magazines, and passed on from generation to generation (click here to see the original recipe!) Over time, as this recipe gained more and more popularity, the apostrophe ‘s’ was dropped. In this way, ‘German’s Chocolate Cake’ became ‘German Chocolate Cake,’ raising the eyebrows of Germans throughout the US (“dieser kuchen ist nicht Deutsch!”) and leading all non-Germans to think that the cake hails from Germany when, in fact, it’s 100% American. Interesting history, dont you think? But enough about THAT cake, let’s talk about THIS one.

Ever since I first tried German’s Chocolate Cake a few years ago, I’ve been a massive fan. I love it. It’s the kind of cake that makes the room fade and your heart go boom boom boom as your eyes close and a rolling MMMMMMMMMM engulfs your soul. It’s delicious; flat out stupendous. The cake in its original form has one downside though: it’s a calorific BOMB. It contains an inordinate amount of sugar and butter – the whole cake is basically just sugar and fat; in a delicious arrangement, sure, but it’s a bomb nevertheless. I’ve long since wondered though, ever since I tried the cake for the first time really, could we flip it on its head? Could we make it sugar free? Could we have it be high protein? In other words, could we change its macros completely? And, while we’re at it, could we make make it healthy? Could we make it also gluten-free? Well, well, well, welcome to this recipe.

1. Blended together and baked at 160 C (320 F) in a round 9 inch cake pan (this one!) for around 50 minutes.

2. After the cake comes out of the oven, you’ve got to let it cool. You can’t really slice it when it’s warm (at least not slice it well); it has to be cold. Once it’s cold, slice it horizontally into three. You can use a big knife OR one of these beauties which are designed especially for this purpose.

3. When you’ve got your three layers, move on to the frosting. I made the frosting by mixing 1 cup pecans + 1/2 cup coconut flakes, 1 cup milk (I used coconut but any will do), 1 tablespoon coconut flour, and 3 tablespoons vanilla casein. I mixed it all in a mixer so as to pulse the pecans roughly. When it was mixed, I then just layered the cake. Simple as can be really, no skill required: just one slice – frosting – another slice – frosting – another slice – frosting, and finally, some cocoa on top = BOOM!

Compare it with a slice of the original German’s Chocolate Cake (which is 403kcals, 53.8g carbs, 3.8g protein and 20.2g fat and is comprised mostly of fat, sugar, and flour). BOOOOOM!

If you have any bits of cake left over (if, say, your slicing skills leave much to desire and you end up with chunks of cake), eat them. It’s wild, the cake bit is DELICIOUS! Moist, chocolatey, sweet, and oy! extremely good. So much so that, if you wanted, you could leave the cake unfrosted and still have it deliver one hell of a punch! you could even bake the above mix as muffins or throw the batter in a bread tin to make a cake loaf!

Verdict: Madnesssss!!!!! Seriously, Incredible, you’ve GOT this. It’s so richly chocolatey and fluffy in its cakeyness with a fantastic moisteness throughout. Oy. Add to that the crunch of the pecans with the coconut and the vanilla and you’ve got yourself one hell of a cake! You may be curious though, how does it compare to the original German’s Chocolate Cake? I’d say it tastes a lot healthier; lighter. It’s not as intensely cloying and sweet (in the sense that you can eat a slice and not feel over-sugared.) It certainly doesn’t have that butterness to it that the original does but I don’t think that this is much of a problem, the pecans and coconut take care of that and then some! I’d say it’s a great variation of the original, maybe not a 100% replacement, but a solid 10 out of ten in the land of cakes! Try it, I tell ya – your jaw will drop, your heart will go boom boom boom, your eyes will close and an orchestra of nommmmm will engulf you!